Hussein Samatar was a Somali American politician, banker and community organizer.
Background
Samatar was born in 1964 in Somalia. He grew up in a diverse area in Kismayo, situated in the southern Lower Juba province. Samatar"s father had originally moved down from the northeastern Puntland region at the age of twelve, and his mother hailed from the southern town of Afmadow.
Education
Samatar attended high school in Mogadishu. He later studied at the local Somali National University, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1991. Samatar was later accepted at the University of Saint Thomas, earning an Master of Business Administration in Business Administration from the institution.
Career
He established the African Development Center in 2004, which provided microloans and technical expertise to recent immigrant businesses. In 2002, Samatar was hired by Wells Fargo into their management training program and became a business banker in 2002. He also worked at Nortwest Banks.
In 2004, he launched the African Development Center, with assistance from the McKnight Foundation and the Pan-African Community Endowment.
The organization"s purpose was to provide education and financial services to recent immigrants. In 2009, the Aide-de-Camp had a loan portfolio of $10 million.
Samatar later entered public office in 2006, when he was appointed to the Minneapolis Library Board of Trustees by Mayor R.T. Rybak. Four years on, he became the first Somali American in Minnesota and most likely the country to be elected to public office, winning a seat on the Minneapolis School Board.
He was inaugurated into the office on 11 January 2011.
Samatar also served on the boards of a number of civic and development organizations. Among these were the Citizens League, Dean"s Advisory Board of the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, CommonBond Communities and Minneapolis Foundation. Additionally, Samatar was actively engaged in politics within Somalia.
On August 25, 2013, Samatar died following complications from leukemia.
In a statement, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said one of his greatest pleasures as mayor was getting to know Samatar, whom he described as "an extraordinary leader and a real friend." Praising Samatar"s public work, Rybak also renamed a stretch of 5th Street the Samatar Crossing in Samatar"s honour.
Politics
He often wrote on the domestic political scene, endorsing the Hiil Qaran Party as a possible national party to contest elections in the autonomous Somaliland, Puntland, Khatumo, Galmudug Himan and Heeb regions.